Doing things my way

My aim in writing this book was to provide a guide to management for student occupational therapists and practitioners in the field. It is not intended to provide an answer to every conceivable management situation. The organisation and delivery of health and social services is being subjected to relentless scrutiny and change. Hardly has one proposal been implemented before another one is introduced. In view of this, the thrust of this book is to highlight key points to be addressed when looking at the delivery of occupational therapy services. For this reason, the book starts from the viewpoint of one who is in the early stages of an occupational therapy career through to the position of having to manage the staff in an occupational therapy department service. Following this plan, the book has been organized into two parts. Part One covers issues that an occupational therapist has to confront directly in any job situation. In this situation, she will need to know what is expected of her. Apart from knowing about the various duties, it is necessary to understand the context in which these duties are to be conducted. Hence, there are chapters that discuss professional responsibilities, self-management, stan­dards of practice, and the structure of the two biggest employers of occupational therapists – the NHS and local authority social services departments.